What is common in the behavior of politicians and chimps?

“During the political debates on TV, I always recommend turning off the sound. In this way, we can ignore the words and content of the debate and focus better on non-verbal communication (postures, gestures, facial expressions), ”said Priorasist Frans de Waal , a primatologist, at the Quora website. . According to him, it was absolutely necessary to turn off the sound during the last debate of presidential candidates from the US Republican Party, because their "content did not make much sense." The candidates insulted each other, lied to each other, questioned each other’s motives, even made anatomical comparisons. “In fact, they did what monkeys do best: intimidate, threaten, spread their shoulders, beat themselves in the chest,” says the professor.

The world famous biologist Frans de Waal has been studying the life of chimpanzees living in a large colony at the Burgers Zoo in Arnhem (the Netherlands) for several years. In 1982, he wrote his classic work " Politics in Chimpanzees: Power and Sex in Primates ", where he showed an amazing similarity between politicians and chimpanzees. The book has sustained many editions and still has not lost its relevance.

According to the scientist, the political power in the group gets not the most physically developed male, but the one who managed to enlist the greatest support from other strong males. Thus, chimpanzees carry out actions that are well known in human society: they enter into alliances, undermine alliances by competitors, use isolation tactics, make deals, weave intrigues. It is quite appropriate to use the same terminology as politicians, because behavior and motivation are almost the same. The book “Politics at a Chimpanzee” was written for the masses, but now it is used as a textbook, it is included in the list of business literature for business consultants, and even once got into the list of literature recommended to congressmen in the first year of their work.
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Frans de Waal describes his observations of what is happening in the chimpanzee group. He usually does not compare them directly with specific people, with the exception of occasional comparisons (one of the males showed the loss of power in full accordance with Richard Nixon’s reaction to the loss of power after the Watergay scandal: he fell to the ground , stretched out and in despair struck it with a fist, exclaiming loudly). But even without direct comparisons, an attentive reader will find many obvious analogies. For example, in groups of chimpanzees, the old male often acts behind the scenes, exploiting a fierce struggle between younger males.

To win the position of the female, the chimpanzee tickles her cubs: politicians do the same to get the location of the female electorate. Holding a child in the hands of television cameras is a standard method of electoral campaign. “Women's support can be critical in the competition between men,” writes the primatologist. “So creating a good impression is very important.”

There are many parallels, including typical gestures and examples of non-verbal communication, such as lowering the voice and important. For example, a gesture with an outstretched hand and an open palm, we call "stretching the arm." In the Dutch colony of chimps, this is the most common gesture.


^{Shouting, Jackie extends her hand with a beggar gesture to another chimp who has stolen his berries. He wants to get them back. "Politics in a chimpanzee: Power and sex in primates"}

Its meaning, like the meaning of many other chimpanzee signals, depends on the context in which it is used. Monkeys use it to ask for food, physical contact, or even support in a fight. When two monkeys aggressively collide with each other, one of them can reach out to the third monkey. “This inviting gesture plays an important role in the formation of aggressive alliances, or coalitions, the main political tool,” writes Frans de Waal. He emphasizes that all behavioral patterns (more than a hundred registered) in the colony were also observed in chimpanzees in their natural habitat. That is, the playing face, grin, begging gestures and other forms of non-verbal communication, primates did not learn from people. These are really our common features.

Contacts between opponents after a conflict are much more intense than contacts in other situations, with kisses being the most characteristic feature. The most appropriate word for this phenomenon is “reconciliation,” but I know people who objected, pointing out that by choosing such terms, we unnecessarily humanize monkeys. Why not call it somehow neutral, for example, “the first post-conflict contact”, because, actually, the way it is? From the same desire for objectivity, kisses could be called “mouth-to-mouth contact”, arms “contact with arms around shoulders”, face “muzzle”, and arms “front paws”. I tend to be skeptical of arguments supporting similar dehumanized terminology. Is this not an attempt to hide the mirror that chimps hold in front of us with the help of words? Are we hiding our heads in the sand, trying to save self-esteem?

"Politics in a chimpanzee: Power and sex in primates"

The author does not intend to somehow belittle people. He says that he is interested in another aspect: studying monkeys, we better understand our own nature, the motives of the behavior of the people around us and the laws that operate in society.

Imagine a situation in which one of the adult males shows itself to his rival. He seems bloated because his hair stands on end, he pulls, his upper body swings from side to side, and he holds a stone in his hand. An inexperienced observer may not notice the stone, since all attention is riveted on this amazing fearsome demonstration. He may be so captured by the spectacle that he will not even notice the manipulations of one of the adult females. She calmly approaches the male displaying himself, opens his fingers with which he holds the stone, and leaves with him. It took me several weeks of observation before I realized what was happening. The note on this day in my diary is highlighted by a bold exclamation mark, because at that time I was sure that I had made the discovery of the century. But as soon as I became acquainted with this pattern in behavior, I realized that it was not at all uncommon. Sometimes these scenes are played several times a day. We call them confiscation . In such a situation, the male never reacted aggressively to the female. Sometimes he tries to wrest his hand from the female’s hands, and if he fails, he may look for another stone or stick. Then he continues his awesome demonstration. But this second weapon can also be confiscated: once the female confiscated at least six items from the same male.

"Politics in a chimpanzee: Power and sex in primates"

After the book “Politics in Chimpanzees: Power and Sex in Primates”, Frans de Waal later wrote several more books about bonobos, about peacemaking, and also the remarkable work “ The Origins of Morality: In Search of Human in Primates, ” which proves that morality does not a purely human property. Primates have the beginnings of morality: they help kinsmen in trouble, help the sick, they are characterized by compassion, empathy, altruism, generosity (most often inherent to dominant males, by the way), consolation of upset friends with hugs and kisses and many other supposedly "human" qualities and traits. Some of these qualities are inherent not only in monkeys, but also in other mammals, even intellectually underdeveloped species, such as dogs and cats.



Moreover, using the example of monkeys, we can conclude that morality appeared before religion and these are not related concepts. Maybe for an atheist, this sounds like a self-evident fact, but it will be a revelation to the theologians. In fact, the norms of morality, the concept of good and evil is not at all the invention of mankind, and certainly not of the church.

Zoo visitors always seem to be amused by the chimpanzee look. No other animal causes so much laughter. Why is this so? Are they true clowns, or are they funny because of their appearance? Almost certainly we can say that we are amused precisely by their appearance, since it is enough for them to walk or sit down - and we already laugh. Perhaps our fun hides completely different feelings and is a nervous reaction caused by a marked similarity between humans and chimpanzees. They used to say that monkeys are our mirror, but it seems difficult for us to remain serious at the sight of the reflection.

Not only visitors are fascinated and unnerving at the same time by chimpanzees - the same can be said about scientists. The more they learn about these large apes, the more, apparently, our identity crisis worsens. The similarity between humans and chimpanzees is not only external. If you look directly into the eyes of a chimpanzee, we will see that we are looking at a smart and self-confident person. If they are animals, then who are we?

"Politics in a chimpanzee: Power and sex in primates"

The expert considers the current presidential race in the USA to be very interesting from a scientific point of view, because there is a female candidate in her. Thus, direct confrontation between men and women, where both are the dominant personalities, is possible. The sexual difference completely changes the traditional dynamics, says Frans de Waal: “The way the males intimidate other males is predictable and well perceived. Men insult each other, put down gross jokes, try to look big and strong, and all of this is part of the game. Higher men have an advantage, which is why the undersized politicians (Dukasis, Sarkozy, Berlusconi) like to stand on a stand during a photo shoot. ”

In the case of opposition to a woman, the standard technique no longer works. Apparently, the semantic content of the debate becomes more important.

In this case, the situation is complicated by female solidarity, the scientist believes. He says that chimpanzee females rarely get together, but they do it without hesitation when faced with male hostility: "The best way for a chimpanzee male to get into trouble is to force a high-ranking female into violence or try to force her into submission."

According to the expert, traditional tactics do not work against a female candidate. Moreover, she can claim great support if the male shows disrespect for her and gets rebuffed. “Keeping our position against male insults will cause instant sympathy,” said the primatologist.

You can agree or not with the assessment of the scientist, but one thing is clear: the years of observation allow an experienced specialist to recognize and interpret the behavior of primates much better, which is impossible without proper training.

At such moments I have to remember that I also did not understand for a long time why no structure was visible in these episodes, when in fact the problem was not in the absence of structure, but in my own defective perception. It is necessary to get acquainted as closely as possible with many individuals, their friendly relations and rivalry, with all their gestures, characteristic sounds, facial expressions and other forms of behavior. Only then will the wild scenes we see begin to really make sense.

"Politics in a chimpanzee: Power and sex in primates"

Perhaps watching the primates professor began to better understand people?